Hand stamps and type therefor



Dec. 12, 1961 w. K. MUNSON 3,012,501

HAND STAMPS AND TYPE THEREFOR Filed Jan. 26, 1960 INVEN TOR. WH/TNEY K Mu/vso/v its 3,012,501 Patented Dec. 12, 1961 than 3,012,591 HAND STAMPS AND TYPE THEREFOR Whitney K. Munson, R0. Box 312, Red Bank, NJ. Filed Jan. 26, 1960, Ser. No. 4,757 9 Claims. (Cl. 1il1--331) This invention relates to what are generally referred to as hand stamps. More particularly, the invention deals with a structure of this type and kind employing a specially formed type and a simple and economical means for mounting assembled type units in connection with the body portion of the stamp to materially simplify the construction of a particular stamp.

Still further, the invention deals with a device of the character described which can be utilized in the education of children in spelling words and in laying out short sentences.

The novel features of the invention will be best understood from the following description, when taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which certain embodiments of the invention are disclosed and, in which, the separate parts are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views and, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of one form of stamp which I employ, part of the construction being broken away and in section and diagrammatically illustrating a partial arrangement of type therein.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2- 2 of FIG. 1, with parts of the construction broken away and omitting part of the background showing.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of one end portion of a stamp illustrating part of two Words in the two channels or" the stamp and one type spacing element in each channel; and

FIG. 5 is a top view of one of the assembled type units of FIG. 4 detached and diagrammatically illustrating the simplified method of arranging type elements on the sup porting rod of the unit.

It will be understood that, while body portions or mountings of a stamp of the type and kind under consideration can be made of single or multiple channels, in the construction shown for illustrating one adaptation and use of my invention, the body portion or mounting of the stamp is illustrated as having two similar channels 11 and 12 opening through end portions of the body 10, the channels being bordered at their outer sides in side walls 13, 14 of the body 10 and, preferably, divided centrally by a thin partition wall 15.

The top wall of the body 10 also has two relatively shallow longitudinal recesses 16 and 17 which also open through end portions of the body 10. By virtue of the cross-seectional contour of the body 10 defined, it will be apparent that this body portion can then be extruded in relatively long lengths and, then, cut to the desired length of the body required in the hand stamp. In the construction shown, the body 10 is illustrated as formed from plastics so that the stamp will be relatively light in weight.

At 18 I have indicated a suitable handle secured centrally to the upper portion of the body 10 and of sufficient width to cover the recesses 16, 17, as will clearly appear from a consideration of FIG. 2 of the drawing.

Arranged snugly, but freely, in the recesses 16 and 17 are elastic strips or bands 19 and 20', respectively. End portions of the bands have apertures 21, 22 therein, into which extend slits 23, 24, the latter facilitating quick assemblage of said ends of the bands onto the type supporting rods 25, 26 of the type units employed. The end portions of the bands 19 and 20, when detached from the rods 25, 26, project a slight extent beyond the ends of the body 10, as indicated, for example, in dotted lines at 20 in FIG. 1 of the drawing. However, in assembling the type units, these ends are drawn outwardly to a degree to freely pass over the protruding ends of the rods 25, 26 and, when the ends are released, what would be normal round apertures, are extended to form the teardrop-type of apertures 21, 22, as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawing. In other words, it will be apparent that the end portions of the bands tensionally urge the rods 25, 26 inwardly in the direction of the bottom wall of the channels 11 and 12, respectively.

Seated in the channels 11 and 12 are yieldable backings 27 and 28, respectively, of foam rubber or other yieldable material, so as to provide yieldable support of the type units having the rods 25, 26 in the body 10.

In the use of my improved stamp, type elements 29 are mounted on the rods 25, 26 as well as spacing elements 30 in arranging longitudinally of each of the rods a series of words, letters, numerals or characters, depending entirely upon the end result desired.

Considering FIG. 3 of the drawing, it will appear that the rods are generally rounded in cross-sectional form, but do have flat surfaces, as at 25', 26', which are directed upwardly or face the bottom of the channels 11 and 12 when the type units are arranged in the channels, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawing.

The type elements 29, as well as the spacing elements 30, have recesses or apertures opening through inner surfaces thereof and generally of the cross-sectional contour of the rods, the recesses of the elements 29 being illustrated at 29 in FIG. 3 of the drawing. Cemented or otherwise secured to the inner surfaces of the elements 29 and 30 are strips or plates 31 of thin plastics or other material which form closures for'therecesses 29' and also a supporting surface fitting flatly upon the flat surfaces 25, 26 of the rods 25, 26. It will, thus, be apparent that the type elements 29 will be maintained in definite position and alinement on the rods in the process of assembling the elements thereon as, for example, as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 5 of the drawing. The plates 31, in addition to bridging the apertures in the elements also, by virtue of the material employed in the plates, serve to retain spaced portions of said elements against spreading.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, inclusive, I have diagrammatically illustrated at 32 the projecting characterized outer surfaces of the type elements 29 and, in FIG. 4, these characterized surfaces are illustrated ,as spelling the word TEN and the word ROD, the word ROD" being on the unit having the rod 25; whereas, the word TEN appears on the unit having the rod 26.

Now considering FIG. 5 of the drawing, it will appear that the exposed surface of the strips 31 has printed or otherwise formed thereon characters 33, similar to the characters 32, on the working surface of the type elements, but in such an arrangement as to enable the operator to simply arrange the type elements on the rod in proper spelling of any word or in proper arrangement of a series of characters or numerals, again, depending upon the end result desired. Thus, when the unit, as for example the unit having the rod 26, is assembled in one of the channels and the hand stamp is used, the word TEN will be printed upon a surface or sheet in the position as viewed in FIG. 5 of the drawing and this will be apparent from the inverted arrangement of the characters 32 as they appear in FIG. 4 of the drawing.

Returning now for a moment to the assemblage of the stamp, it will be apparent that, after the desired number of elements 29, plus the spacers 30 are arranged on one of the rods, then the entire unit is assembled in one of the channels with the ends of the rod protruding beyond the ends of the body 10, the unit being held temporarily in place by pressure of the finger of a hand upon the unit, after which, one of the ends, forexample, the end 20' of the band 20, is drawn outwardly and attached to one end of the rod 26; whereupon, the other end 20' is correspondingly attached to the other end of the rod 26 and, in completing this operation, the ends of the band 20 will draw the elements of the unit inwardly to substantially embed the inner ends thereof in the backing, as at 28, and this embedding is indicated at the left of FIG. 1 of the drawing at 34. While the elements 29 and 30 are tensioned inwardly to some extent, it will also be apparout that there still remains a yieldable backing for the elements when the hand stamp is pressure applied to a surface in the use of the stamp.

By virtue of the simplicity in arranging the elements on the rods, as diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 5, it will be apparent that devices of the type and kind under consideration can be used by relatively small children in schools in teaching children the proper spelling of words and formation of sentences and, further, to construct stamps which can be utilized for any purpose in the classroom or at home. This particular phase of usefulness of a stamp of the type and kind defined is specifically mentioned in pointing out the simplicity and practicability of the stamp device. It will also be understood that stamps of this type and kind can be put into any type of commercial use and, in such latter uses, the construction of the stamp can be more quickly and accurately performed, as will readily appear from the illustration in FIG. of the drawing. It will also be understood that, from time to time, the one body portion can be utilized to construct stamps of any type or kind quickly and easily.

The bands 19 and 20 are normally made slightly thicker than the depth of the recesses 16 and 17, so that, when the handle 18 is fixed to the body portion 10, the central portions of the bands Will be compressed by the handle member 18 to definitely position the central portions of the bands on the body portion and prevent shifting of the central portions of the bands on the body 10. This mounting leaves ends of the bands projecting to the slight extent, as indicated at in FIG. 1 of the drawing.

For purposes of description, the strips or plates 31 may be said to comprise denoting members for the type elements, in that the characters or indicia 32 thereon, in addition to identifying each of the elements, further denotes proper arrangement of the elements on the bars 25, 26. In addition to the denoting characteristics, these members may also be said to form key members, in that they present flat surfaces engaging the fiat surfaces 26' of the bars in definitely maintaining positioning of the elements on said bars.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A stamp device of the character described, comprising a channelled mounting of rigid material with the channel opening through ends of the mounting, a type unit comprising a bar straight throughout its length and having a plurality of type elements arranged longitudinally thereof, said type elements having apertures opening through sides and the inner surface thereof, said bar having a flat longitudinal surface, said bar having end portions projecting at ends of said mounting, means fixed to said mounting engaging said end portions of the bar in yieldably supporting said type unit in the channel of said mounting, denoting members of rigid material fixed to inner surfaces of said type elements and operatively engaging the flat surface of said bar in definitely positioning the elements on said bar, and said means comprising a longitudinally extensible band having apertured ends receiving ends of said bar.

2. 'A stamp device of the character described, comprising a channelled mounting of rigid material with the channel opening through ends of the mounting, a type unit comprising a bar straight throughout its length and having a plurality of type elements arranged longitudinally thereof, said type elements having apertures opening through sides and the inner surface thereof, said bar having a flat longitudinal surface, said bar having end portions projecting at ends of said mounting, means fixed to said mounting engaging said end portions of the bar in yieldably supporting said type unit in the channel of said mounting, denoting members of rigid material fixed to inner surfaces of said type elements and operatively engaging the flat surface of said bar in definitely positioning the elements on said bar, said means comprising a longitudinally extensible band having apertured ends receiving ends of said bar, and said members comprising flat plates bridging the apertures in said elements.

3. A stamp device of the character described, comprising a channelled mounting of rigid material with the channel opening through ends of the mounting, a type unit comprising a bar straight throughout its length and having a plurality of type elements arranged longitudinally thereof, said type elements having apertures opening through sides and the inner surface thereof, said bar having a flat longitudinal surface, said bar having end portions projecting at ends of said mounting, means fixed to said mounting engaging said end portions of the bar in yieldably supporting said type unit in the channel of said mounting, denoting members of rigid material fixed to inner surfaces of said type elements and operatively engaging the fiat surface of said bar in definitely positioning the elements on said bar, said means comprising a longitudinally extensible band having apertured ends receiving ends of said bar, said members comprising fiat platesbridging the apertures in said elements, said elc merits having type characters on outer surfaces thereof, and said members having characterizations on inner exposed surfaces thereof common to and inverted with respect to the type characters of said elements to simplify arrangement of the type elements on the bar in forming the type unit for positioning in the channel of said mountmg.

4. A stamp device of the character described, comprising a channelled mounting of rigid material with the channel opening through ends of the mounting, a type unit comprising a bar straight throughout its length and having a plurality of type elements arranged longitudinally thereof, said type elements having apertures opening through sides and the inner surface thereof, said bar having a fiat longitudinal surface, said bar having end portions projecting at ends of said mounting, means fixed to said mounting engaging said end portions of the bar in yieldably supporting said type unit in the channel of said mounting, denoting members of rigid material fixed to inner surfaces of said type elements and operatively engaging the fiat surface of said bar in definitely positionin the elements on said bar, said means comprising a longitudinally extensible band having apertured ends receiving ends of said bar, and end portions of said band having slits registering with the apertures therein.

5. A stamp device of the character described, comprising a channelled mounting of rigid material with the channel opening through ends of the mounting, a type unit comprising a bar straight throughout its length and having a plurality of type elements arranged longitudinally thereof, said type elements having apertures opening through sides and the inner surface thereof, said bar having a flat longitudinal surface, said bar having end portions projecting at ends of said mounting, means fixed to said mounting engaging said end portions of the bar in yieldably supporting said type unit in the channel of said mounting, denoting members of rigid material fixed to inner surfaces of said type elements and operatively engaging the fiat surface of said bar in definitely positioning the elements on said bar, said means comprising a longitudinally extensible band having apertured ends receiving ends of said bar, and said band being arranged in a longitudinal recess in said mounting.

6. A stamp device of the character described, comprising a channelled mounting of rigid material with the channel opening through ends of the mounting, a type unit comprising a bar straight throughout its length and having a plurality of type elements arranged longitudinally thereof, said type elements having apertures opening through sides and the inner surface thereof, said bar having a fiat longitudinal surface, said bar having end portions projecting at ends of said mounting, means fixed to said mounting engaging said end portions of the bar in yieldably supporting said type unit in the channel of said mounting, denoting members of rigid material fixed to inner surfaces of said type elements and operatively engaging the fiat surface of said bar in definitely positioning the elements on said bar, said means comprising a longitudinally extensible band having apertured ends receiving ends of said bar, and a handle member fixed to the mounting and engaging the central portion of said band for definitelypositioning the same on said mountmg.

7. A stamp device of the character described, comprising a channelled mounting of rigid material with the channel opening through ends of the mounting, a type unit comprising a bar straight throughout its length and having a plurality of type elements arranged longitudinally thereof, said type elements having apertures opening through sides and the inner surface thereof, said bar having a fiat longitudinal surface, said bar having end portions projecting at ends of said mounting, means fixed to said mounting engaging said end portions of. the bar in yieldably supporting said type unit in the channel of said mounting, denoting members of rigid material fixed to inner surfaces of said type elements and operatively engaging the flat surface of said bar in definitely positioning the elements on said bar, said means comprising a longitudinally extensible band having apertured ends receiving ends of said bar, and a yieldable backing ar-' ranged in the bottom of the channel for yieldable support of the type unit in the channel.

8. In hand stamps employing type elements arranged upon an elongated supporting bar, each element having a type character on one outer surface, the inner portion of each element having an aperture opening through opposed side surfaces of the element and the inner surface thereof, the aperture in each element being closed by a thin strip of rigid material fixed to the other inner surface of said element and bridging said aperture, and the bridging portion of said strip having a fiat surface exposed to the aperture in said element.

9. In hand stamps employing type elements arranged upon an elongated supporting bar, each; element having a type character on one outer surface, the inner portion of each element having an aperture opening through opposed side surfaces of the element and the inner surface thereof, the aperture in each element being closed by a thin strip of rigid material fixed to the other inner surface of said element and bridging said aperture, the

bridging portion of said strip having a fiat surface exposed to the aperture in said element, and the exposed surface of said strip having a character thereon common to and reverse With respect to the character on the outer surface of said element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 642,337 Kley Jan. 30, 1900 772,337 Brown Oct. 18, 1904 893,977 Brown July 21, 1908 1,716,086 Pope June 4, 1929 1,793,616 Hopper Feb. 24, 1931 1,920,058 Buck July 25, 1933 2,747,505 Bailey May-29, 1956 2,844,097 Munson July 22, 1958 2,877,707 Munson Mar; '17, 1959 2,921,516 Munson Jan; 19, 1960 

